10 sports other than cricket India has excelled in

For a country whose intense passion for cricket take center stage and every moment of success is celebrated with pomp and joy all over our country, there have been moments of glory where sportsmen from other sports have toiled hard and have brought back laurels to the country by winning medals at the Olympics and World Championships.Though some would argue that these moments to savour have been far and few, nevertheless they have shaped up the course of Indian sports and paved the way for champions to embrace the feats achieved by their illustrious predecessors.For our present generation which has been swayed away by the cricket frenzy over the last two decades, it becomes imperative to share these path breaking achievements that redefined the image and popularity of these sports in our country.Over the last seven decades,there have been many medalists for India at international competitions but only achievements at the Olympic Games, World Championships, Asian and Commonwealth Games have been taken into consideration here, as performances in these events are the benchmark of excellence for every sportsmen in his respective sport.

#1 Cue Sports

Over the years, India has produced exceptional exponents of cue sports who took the country’s name to the world stage in the sport. Wilson Jones was the country’s first amateur world Champion (1958 and 1964) in billiards.

Michael Ferreira, a three time world champion (1977,1981,1983) became one of most dominant players of his generation.

India’s wonder boy Geet Sethi dominated the sport in a highly competitive arena with masters of the game in Michael Russell and Peter Gilchrist. Sethi was a multiple World Amateur Billiards champion in the late 1980s (1985, 1987) and 2001. Sethi won the World Professional Billiards championship in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2006 and 2009.

In more recent years, Pankaj Advani has become the heir apparent to Geet Sethi and exhibited cue skills of the highest order by becoming a multiple world champion in both Billiards and Snooker. Advani has won the IBSF World Billiards (2005,2007,2008,2012) and IBSF Snooker Championship (2003) multiple times. He won the World Professional Billiards championship (2009,2012 and 2014).

Some other Indians who have found success at various competitions at the inter have been Om Agarwal, Rupesh Kothari, Dhruv Sitawala, Ashok Shandilya, Manan Chandra, Alok Kumar and Aditya Mehta.

#2 Shooting

Shooting in our country has historically had royal patronage due to their penchant for hunting. The very foundation of professional shooting was laid by shooters of royal lineage. Notable among them were Karni Singh, Bhim Singh, Bhuvaneshwari Kumari and Raja Randhir Singh who dominated the national shooting circuit in the 60s and 70s.

Indians always produced ace marksmen but none of them could hit bull’s eye when it came to Olympics. All that changed when Col. (then Major) Rajyvardhan Singh Rathore won a Silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens. Abhinav Bindra added another moment of history to cherish when he won gold (10M Air Rifle) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gagan Narang has been the most consistent shooter for India at ISSF World meets.

Narang added his moment of glory by winning a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. Ace pistol shooters Jaspal Rana and Samresh Jung won numerous medals at Asian and Commonwealth Games. Add to this list the likes of Ronjan Sodhi,Mansher Singh,Manavjit Singh Sandhu,Sanjeev Rajput and Vivek Singh who have done our country proud by winning a bagful of medals in international shooting competitions.

The Indian Army must be credited for producing many of our ace shooters through a regimented and training system. Subedar Vijay Kumar is testimony to this fact, as he won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

Another army marksman, Jitu Rai, looks to be the new shooting sensation who already has built a noteworthy reputation by winning gold medals (50M Pistol) at the 2014 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Jitu bagged a silver at the recently concluded 2015 ISSF World Shooting Championships.

Meanwhile Gurpreet Singh,Prakash Nanjappa and Chain Singh look be bright medals prospects at the upcoming Rio Olympics.

Among women shooters, Anjali Vedpathak was India’s leading shooter during the 1990s. Vedpathak won numerous medals at the Asian and Commonwealth games. Among the current lot Heena Sidhu, Tejaswini Sawant, Rani Sarnobat and Avnet Kaur Sidhu are world class shooters who have proved their mettle at World meets.

#3 Chess

For a sport which could trace back some of its history to our very own country, chess requires sharp mental acumen, high powers of concentration and a never-fading memory. Indians have done commendably at the sport at the international stage.

In an era when the Soviet Union grandmasters ruled the roost someone had to break their dominance and stand up as a potential challenger.It was none other than our very own Chess Wizard from Chennai,Vishwanathan Anand.Anand created a niche of his own and stood tall against the likes of Gary Kasporov and Anatoly Karpov. Anand has won the FIDE World chess championship (2000) and been the World Champion (2007, 2008.2010,2012)

The icon’s game is ideally suited to the rapid format and he proved his credentials by winning the World Rapid Chess Tournament in 2003.

Manuel Aaron should be credited for being one of India’s first dominant chess players. Aaron was an 11-time national champion and represented the country with distinction in Chess Olympiads.

Among the women, Koneru Humpy has India’s number one female player for quite some time now.Tania Sachdev and Dronavalli Harika have also been in the top flight by winning medals for India at international meets.

Notable Indian chess icons include Surya Shekar Ganguly, Pravin Tipsay, Sasikiran Krishnan, Pendyala Harikrishna, Abhijeet Gupta, Sandipan Chanda,Parimarjan Negi and Abhijeet Kunte.

#4 Badminton

Prakash Padukone was India’s first world class shuttler during the reign of legends like Lim Swie King and Morten Frost. Padukone dominated the Indian badminton scene in the late 70s.His crowning moment of glory came by winning the All England Badminton Championship in 1980. He was a bronze medalist at the 1983 IBF World Championships,besides winning mens singles title at the 1981 World Cup.

Syed Modi became our country’s ace shuttler during the 1980s, winning the gold in men’s singles badminton at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.The 90s belonged to Pullela Gopichand who rewrote history by winning the All England Badminton Title in 2001. His contribution to the sport has been immense with his Academy producing a string of promising young players who have done commendably well at the international scene.

Madhumita Bisht was the top female shuttler of the country in the 80s.Commonwealth and Asian Games medalist Aparna Popat reigned supreme in the domestic scene all through the 90s.

Saina Nehwal became India’s finest female badminton player in the new millennium after winning a number of BWF Super series events. Her career defining moment came in the 2015 World Badminton Championships where she won a silver medal by reaching the finals.

Nehwal has been a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. PV Sindhu has emerged as a giant killer in premier tournaments, winning two bronze medals at the BWF World Championships (2013 and 2014).

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have been the leading doubles pair for almost a decade.They created history of sorts by winning a bronze medal in the 2011 World Championships. P Kashyap,Kidambi Shrikant,Sai Gurudutt and HS Pranoy have made their mark on the international scene and promise to take Indian Badminton to greater heights in the near future.

In mens doubles V Diju,Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar represented India with distinction at international tournaments.

Notable mentions: Suresh Goel, Nandu Natekar,Vimal Kumar,Anand Pawar,Chetan Anand,Abhin Shyam Gupta, Dipankar Bhattacharya and Ami Gia.

#5 Lawn Tennis

The defining moments of the 60s was Ramanathan Krishnan reaching the semi-finals of the Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961.Krishnan combined well with seasoned players like Jaideep Mukherjee and Premjit Lal to make India Davis Cup winners in 1966. The 70s was all about the Amritraj brother,both of whom played a crucial role in taking India to the finals of the Davis Cup in 1974.Vijay Amritraj at the peak of his career reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (1973,1981)and US Open (1973,1974).

In the 80s, Ramesh Krishnan was India’s best bet on the professional circuit.Ramesh Krishnan and the Amritraj brothers led India to the finals of the Davis Cup in 1987. Indian tennis left an impregnable impression on the global arena when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi combined together to form one of the most potent doubles pair in tennis history by winning the French Open (1999 and 2001) and Wimbledon (1999).”The Indian Express” reached the finals of all four Grand Slams in 1999.Leander’s crowning moment of his singles career came when he won a bronze medal in the men’s singles at Atlanta Olympics (1996). Both Leander and Mahesh have been very successful as double players, wining multiple grand slams in the doubles and mixed doubles category over the years on the ATP circuit.

Sania Mirza has been India’s leading female tennis star for almost a decade on the world stage.Mirza has had resounding success on the WTA tour level and has won medals for India at Asian and Commonwealth Games .Her career defining moment came in 2015 by winning the women’s doubles at Wimbledon and US Open with Swiss Ace Martina Hingis.

Indian men’s tennis in recent years has been spearheaded by Asian Games Gold medalist Somdev Devvarman who showcased some promise early in his career but hasn’t quite lived up to the talent he possessed. Meanwhile Yuki Bhambri,Saket Myeni and Sanam Singh seem to be bright prospects for the future.

Notable Mentions: Sumant Mishra, Dilip Bose, Gaurav Natekar,Zeshan Ali,Mustafa Ghouse,Harsh Mankad,Prahlad Srinath,Vishnu Vardhan.

#6 Athletics

Norman Pritchard became India’s first medalist at Olympics by winning silver at the 200M and 200M hurdles at the 1900 Olympics. Milkha Singh was India’s standout athlete of the 60s winning the 200M and 400M title at the 1958 Asian Games. He won the 400M sprint event at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. The Flying Sikh came fourth at the 400M and missed the bronze by a whisker at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Meanwhile Makhan Singh, Keneth Powell and Ajmer Singh were sprinters of international pedigree who represented the country at the Olympic and Asian Games. In recent years Saraswati Saha, Rachita Mistry and Anil Kumar have done well at the sprint events at the Asian level.

When it came to the declathon, there could be none better than one of India’s most versatile athletes, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, who won gold at the 1962 Asian Games.

Commonwealth and Asian Games medalist Mohinder Singh Gill could be hailed as India’s best triple jumper. Sriram Singh,Shivath Singh,Gopal Saini and Bahadur Prasad dominated the middle and long distance running at Asian track and field meets.Noted Long Jumper,TC Yohanan became a gold medalist at long jump event at the 1970 Tehran Asian Games.In field events, we had Praveen Kumar,Shakti Singh,Bahadur Singh,Seema Antil,Neelam J Singh,Krishna Punia and Harwant Kaur,all of whom represented India with distinction at Asian Athletic meets.

P.T Usha became the Golden girl of Indian athletics in the 80s. The “Payyoli Express” trail blazed her way to glory by dominating the Athletic meets at the Asian level .Usha’s best effort came in the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles when she finished fourth at the 400M hurdles and missed the bronze medal by a one hundredths of a second. In the 80s, the likes of Shiny Wilson and MD Valsamma also proved their mettle at Asian track and field events. Long jumper Anju Bobby George became the first women to win a medal at the World Athletic Championships in 2003.KM Benamol also deserves a word of mention when she reached the semi-finals of the 800 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and Manjit Kaur brought back medals in middle distance running at Asian Games on a consistent basis .

With the likes of Vikas Gowda, Inderjeet Singh,Tintu Luka, Dutee Chand and MA Poovama, the future of Indian athletics looks quite promising .

#7 Boxing

Indian pugilists have packed a punch when it comes to Boxing at the Asian and Commonwealth Games.Vijender Singh could be hailed as our nation’s finest boxer as he won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Vijender also won a bronze medal at the 2009 AIBA World Championships.Vijender has won medals consistently for India at the Asian and Commonwealth Games.Meanwhile Vikas Krishnan Yadav won a Bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships.

MC Marykom has been India’s best female boxer by a mile. An Olympic bronze medalist (2012 London Olympics) and five time world champion (2001, 2005, 2006,2008,2010), Mary Kom has been the dominant boxer of her generation. Among other boxers, L Sarita Devi, Sarjubala Devi and Kavita Chahal have made Indian proud by winning medals at international boxing meets.

In the 90s, NK Dingko Singh was India’s best boxer when he won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games. Muhammad Ali Qamar too proved his stature by winning Gold at the 2002 Commonwealth games.

In the last decade or so, our nation produced accomplished boxers in Akhil Kumar,Som Bahadur Pun,Nanao Singh,Suranjoy Singh,Dinesh Kumar,Jitender Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Jai Bhagwan, V Johnson and Paramjit Samota who have proudly represented our nation and won medals at Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Among the current lot, L Devendro Singh,Shyam Thapa,Vikas Yadav, Manpreet Jhangra and Satish Kumar look to be bright medals prospects at the upcoming Rio Olympics in 2016.

Notable Mentions: Gopal Dewang,Harpal Singh,Gurcharan Singh,DS Thapa,Hawa Singh and C. C. Machaiah

#8 Wrestling

Wrestling has long been a part of Indian history. The Pehlwani style of wrestling and the Akhara system of training has been synonymous with Indian wrestling.Legendry wrestlers like Gama Pahalwan were christened with titles like Rustam E Zamana.Meanwhile famed wrestlers like Chandgi Ram, Harishchandra Birajdar and Maruti Mane won the prestigious Hind Kesari title.

Many of us are unaware of the fact that Khashaba Jhadav made India proud by winning a Bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics Games in Helsinki. Indian wrestlers made it to the podium at the FILA World Championships with Uday Chand winning Bronze and Bishambar Singh winning Silver at the 1961 and 1967 editions of the championships respectively.

India produced wrestlers of international pedigree in Chandgi Ram, Satbir Singh, Satpal Singh and Kartar Singh who brought back medals from Asian Games. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Indians grapplers Palwinder Singh Cheema and Sujeet Mann did well at Asian wrestling meets.

Sushil Kumar has been most accomplished wrestler at the international arena by winning Gold at the 2010 FILA World Championships. Kumar has etched his name in Indian wrestling history by winning consecutive medals at Olympics (Bronze in 2008 and Silver in 2012).

2012 London Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt has been second to none by being one of the foremost wrestlers in the Greco-Roman category. Meanwhile seasoned wrestlers like Ramesh Kumar,Bajrang Kumar, Amit Kumar and Sandeep Tulsi Yadav have been medalists at recent editions of the FILA Wrestling Championships.

Narsingh Pancham Yadav (Asian Games and Asian Championship bronze medalist) seems to be another bright prospect at the upcoming Rio Olympics as he won a bronze at the 2015 World Wrestling Championship.

Indian women have been no less than their men counterparts by making their presence felt in the sport at the international level .The likes of Alka Tomar,Gethika Jhakar,Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat have done the country proud by winning a bagful of medals at Asian and Commonwealth meets.

#9 Weightlifting

Iconic Indian weightlifter Karnam Malleswari, pictured at the 2000 Sydney Olympics

The Hill State of Manipur been the nursery of great weightlifters in Indian history, but none could match the credentials of the diminutive powerhouse Kunjarani Devi. Kunjarani was the dominant weightlifter during the 90s and brought back laurels to the country by winning medals at the World and Asian Weightlifting Championships.

Karnam Malleswari went a step further by winning a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Manipur has had a strong tradition of producing notable lifters like Sanamacha Chanu Thingbaijan, Ngangbam Soniya Chanu and Monica Devi who made it to the podium at international wrestling meets.

In the men’s section Katulu Ravi Kumar has been India’s brightest hopes in recent years by winning Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.Meanwhile Sukhen Dey and Satish Sivalingam have showcased great promise by winning gold medals at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Notable Mentions :Sateesha Rai,NV Laxmi, Mehar Chand Bhaskar, Dalbir Singh and Chaya Adak

#10 Archery

Indian archer Deepika Kumari at the World Archery Championships

Like shooting, India has produced world class archers who have hit the center of the target when it mattered the most.Limba Ram was India’s seasoned Olympian during the 90s who won medals at Asian Archery Championsips. The likes of Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee,Tarundeep Rai and Mangal Singh Champia have made India proud by winning medals at international meets over the last decade and a half.

In recent years,Abhishek Verma, Sandeep Kumar and Rajat Chauhan won Gold (men’s Compound) at the 2014 Asian Games at Busan.Rajat Chauhan became the first individual silver medalist for our country at the 2015 World Archery Championships.

In the women’s section, Deepika Kumari can be hailed as the finest archer our nation has ever produced.Kumari has been a former junior World Champion and won silver medals at the ITAF World Cup (2011,2012,2013).

Kumari has combined well with seasoned archers like Dola Banerjee, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Chekrovolu Swuro to make the Indian women team a formidable force at the world level. The Indian team of Rimil Buriuly, Deepika Kumari and Laxmirani Majhi won Silver in the Recurve event (team) at the 2015 World Archery Championships.

India also boasts a two-time Carrom World champion (1991 and 1995) in A. Maria Irudayam,who unfortunately never got the recognition he deserved for being a champion of his sport.

Edited by Staff Editor